Unofficial original RCF practice material

RCF Model Paper 1: Marking Guide

Answers for the thirty reading marks, marking criteria for the two writing tasks, and a model answer for each. Mark the reading strictly and the writing honestly.

Unofficial original RCF practice material

This marking guide accompanies RCF Model Paper 1, an original practice paper written by RCF English.

It is not a Cambridge International mark scheme, and the bands described here are RCF English's own working description of how content and language marks divide. For the authoritative marking standard, use the official Cambridge specimen mark scheme and examiner reports linked on the papers page.

RCF English is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by Cambridge Assessment International Education.

Exercise 1: answers

8 marks. One mark each for questions 1 to 5; three marks for question 6. Accept any wording that carries the meaning.
Q	Answer	Also accept
1	On the first Thursday of every month	Once a month / monthly
2	Fifty-one	51
3	The market would lose its licence	They would lose the licence
4	Because no stall may sell what another stall already sells, and there is already a noodle trader	They must wait until the existing noodle trader leaves
5	The hour / the time of night - people are not in a hurry and are buying for enjoyment	Because it is at night and customers are relaxed
6 (three marks)	Selling something another stall already sells; cooking food at home in advance; needing help to set up or dismantle the stall (in under twenty minutes)	One mark for each of the three. Do not accept a fourth answer as a substitute for a wrong one.

Exercise 2: answers

9 marks, one for each question. One letter only; two letters score zero.
Q	Statement	Answer
1	The pay was poor and the work was physically tiring	D
2	They were shown how to do something rather than told	C
3	They stayed after their original reason had gone	B
4	They learned patience with people who would not buy	A
5	Their family noticed a change in them	D
6	They were left to find their own mistakes on purpose	E
7	They valued being alone at an early hour	B
8	They now use the same approach in their own work	E
9	They were surprised not to be supervised	E

A note on Exercise 2

Three of the nine answers are E and two are B and D. This is deliberate, and it matches how multiple-matching works in the real paper: a text can answer more than one question. Candidates who assume each letter is used once and only once will change a correct answer to a wrong one. If a student lost marks here, that assumption is almost always the reason.

Exercise 3: answers

7 marks, one each. Notes, not sentences. A short accurate phrase from the text is ideal.
Q	Answer	Also accept
1	(The cupboard) under the stairs	Under the stairs at the school
2	About forty	40 / around forty a term
3	Tuesdays and Thursdays (at lunchtime)	Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes
4	The owner has to stay and help	You must help with the repair
5	Donated by a local cycle shop	From a local bike shop / a shop gave old tools. Do not accept 'the school', which bought almost nothing.
6	Two pounds	GBP 2 / two pounds whatever the part
7	Touch a spanner	Use the tools / do any of the repairs

Exercise 4: answers

6 marks, one each. Letter only.
Q	Answer	Why the other options are wrong
1	B	A is not stated; C is not mentioned. The text says almost nobody objected on learning grounds - the reason was about position.
2	A	B and C are both explicitly ruled out: there is no summary and no check on difficulty.
3	C	A is invented; B contradicts the text, which accepts a student rereading a comic.
4	C	The text says results are unchanged, and later that they have not moved in either direction.
5	B	A is the opposite of what she says; C is not raised.
6	A	She calls it a compromise she is not entirely comfortable with. B and C are not supported.

Exercises 5 and 6: how the writing marks divide

Each writing exercise carries 15 marks: 6 for content and 9 for language. Mark them separately, and mark content first - it is the mark most often given too generously.

Content (6 marks)

5-6 marks. All three prompts answered, and at least two developed with a reason, an example or a consequence. The response is clearly aimed at the stated reader.
3-4 marks. All three prompts answered, but development is thin - the prompts are mentioned rather than explored. This is where most competent answers land.
1-2 marks. One or two prompts answered, or all three touched so briefly that the reader learns little.
0 marks. The task has not been attempted, or the response is on a different subject.

Language (9 marks)

7-9 marks. A range of structures and vocabulary used with control. Errors occur but do not obscure meaning. Clear paragraphs and varied linking. Register consistently right for the task.
4-6 marks. Mostly accurate but limited in range - short sentences of similar shape, common vocabulary, simple linking. An error-free answer with no range belongs here, not above.
1-3 marks. Frequent errors that slow or block the reader; little organisation; register wrong or inconsistent.
0 marks. Not enough language to assess.

Two marking habits worth keeping

Do not reward length. An answer of 250 words has not earned more content marks; it has usually lost language marks.
Do not punish an accent in writing. Unusual but correct phrasing is range, not error.

Exercise 5: model answer

Informal email - a top-band answer (152 words)

Question: Write an email to a friend about your week of work experience: where it was and how you ended up there, one thing that surprised you, and whether you would do that work in future.

Hi Leila,

Better than an office, I promise - I spent the week at the town's small animal rescue centre. I only ended up there because the placement I wanted fell through two days before, and my form tutor made a phone call. Complete accident.

The surprise was how little of it involved animals. I had imagined a week of holding kittens. In fact I spent most of it on the telephone to people who had found something injured and had no idea what to do, and the whole job was keeping them calm enough to describe what they were looking at.

Would I do it? Not permanently - I could not take the sad ones. But it has completely changed what I want from a job. I want work where the difficult part is people rather than paperwork.

How was yours? Tell me it was terrible.

Ravi

Why this answer works

Content 6/6. All three prompts answered, and two developed - the accidental placement has a story, and the surprise has a specific, believable detail.
Language 9/9. Range without strain: fell through, had no idea what to do, keeping them calm enough to describe. Sentence lengths vary. Paragraphs follow the prompts.
Register. Informal and warm throughout, and it turns back to the reader at the end - How was yours? - which is what an email does.
The line that lifts it. I want work where the difficult part is people rather than paperwork answers the third prompt with a thought rather than a yes or a no.

Exercise 6: model answer

Report - a top-band answer (156 words)

Question: Write a report for the head teacher on whether the library should stay open for two hours after school: how students use it now and when it is busiest, the main difficulty with present hours, and a recommendation with a reason.

Report on extending library opening hours

This report describes how students currently use the library and recommends a change to its opening hours.

Current use

The library is used mainly for private study rather than for borrowing. It is busiest in the twenty minutes after the final lesson, when between forty and fifty students arrive, and it closes fifteen minutes later.

The difficulty

Those fifteen minutes are the problem. Students who travel by bus cannot begin any serious work before they are asked to leave, and several have told me they no longer bother to come in. Students without a quiet place to work at home are the group most affected.

Recommendation

The library should open until half past five on at least three days a week. The room, the lighting and the books already exist; only supervision would need arranging, and a trial term would show whether the demand is real.